Sprig
by drinktea
Summary: [Slight AU] [One shot] [Sakura x Sasuke] Why, oh why had she picked the damn thing? There was maybe a subclass of stupidity this sort of thing fell under, and Sakura had probably invented it. Not your usual mistletoe story.


_Disclaimer: Sakura, Tsunade, Sasuke, Naruto and Rock Lee do not belong to me. Everyone else does though, I swear! ... (ahem.)_

Sakura-Angel: Laaaame title! But that's not what's important. What IS important is that you understand what sort of situation the characters are in. Like in the manga, Sakura is training to be a medic, and it's a couple years in the future. One crucial thing did not happen though. And that would be the leaving of you-know-who (trying not to spoil things). Anyways. Just trying my hand at something different, since I don't really write Naruto. **Happy holidays!**

**Sprig**

Mistletoe is a parasite, did you know that?

Sakura certainly didn't, at least not until Tsunade told her so. They had gone out for a lesson just yesterday, (yes, it was freezing, and yes, she still had to fill her mind up with gibberish when it really should have been shutting down) and encountered some. Tsunade then plucked a sprig and held it up triumphantly, declaring its parasitic nature.

"Really?" she asked, almost not believing it.

"Well it can grow by itself, but mostly it sucks up nutrients from other trees," her guardian said, strangely plucky and bright-eyed that morning. "It's rumoured to have healing powers."

Sakura assumed she meant not the kiss-and-make-up, heal-relationships type of power. She 'hmm'ed accordingly, and tore off a sprig herself when Tsunade's back was turned. Her mind registered Tsunade's excited cry at finding some rare winter plant, but she was too focused on the plant burning a hole through her clenched hand.

And here she was, the little pest nibbling away at her sanity.

Why, oh _why_ has she picked the damn thing? Why did she do things that she _knew_, absolutely, one hundred percent _knew_ were going to drive her insane? There was maybe a subclass of stupidity this condition fell under, and Sakura definitely had this condition. She had probablt invented it, or at least perfected it to some degree.

The answer, of course, she knew. It was always the same, she almost frustrated herself. It was always, _always_ the same three syllables, repeated a million times over, straight into infinity, like placing a mirror against another mirror and the having the images repeat into forever.

Sasuke.

_Sasuke_.

SasukeSasukeSasukeSasukeSasuke.

Even his name, his stupid, stupid, beautiful name made her waver a little.

He set her on fire with want. She wanted so many things from him, _so_ many, that they all melded into one confused jumble, and she barely tell one from the other. Hissmilehisapprovalhisskillhisdesirehiskisshisfighthisdrivehislove. Him. When it really came down to it, she wanted him.

It had bloomed over the years into something fierce, something hot and untouchable. Even Naruto and Rock Lee had seen it, and they had backed away respectfully, though not without hurt bent throughout their frames.

_I'm sorry_, she wanted to say. But they waved it off, preffering the happy façade. They questioned, why apologize for loving so hard? And she broke down and cried.

Remembering all this, her fingers curled together involuntarily, strangling the clump of leaves and berries. She'd make it count. All of it.

--------

She was sitting outside. Even though it was cold and piercing to do it, she felt like it, and Sakura had learned to cater to her impulses once in awhile.

Her mind wandered, pacing back and forth between the small mounds of pure white snow.

Was her stupidity condition flaring? Had anything changed between them at all? Was she inventing things to soothe her deluded head?

Sure, he looked at her a little longer now. But what was that out of? They had grown closer as a team and he trusted her, maybe. Her hips curved a little sweeter and her legs had grown nice, maybe.

It was all maybe with him. Nothing was clear. No one could pin down Uchiha Sasuke.

She _wanted_ that. She wanted him to not be so damn mysterious all the time. She wanted clarity, a falling away of everything else to leave one, sure answer.

She still wanted _him_.

_Crunchcrunchcrunch_. Slow and sure steps, coming towards her. Her instincts told her already that it was him.

"Sakura." A softer crunch as he seated himself beside her.

Her fist closed around the sprig of parasite again at his stupid, beautiful, calmdeep voice. In the cold, sharp air she could feel his body heat practically radiating from him. His arm, more specifically, as that was the part of him that was closest and so in danger of touching her.

"Sasuke." she said, voice cracking pathetically from lack of recent use. She cleared her throat. "How are you?"

He didn't reply right away. He was sparing, cautious with his words. "Fine. Why are you... sitting out here?" This was clearly the reason for why he had come.

She shrugged, feeling weird at acting so indifferent and emotionless around someone she was passionate about. "I felt like it," she answered to the grass poking out of the snow.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked without his usual hesitation.

She rolled the plant around in her hand, sure it was dying by now. "No. I feel fine." It was a lie, but not really, because she wasn't cold, but she didn't feel fine. She turned to face him.

"Really? I am." And he looked directly into her eyes, the prettiest, most unexpected sweetness flashing through his face, and then it was gone. The slight smile still lingered from the warmness of his words.

He inspired her.

"Sasuke." She turned serious.

"Yeah?" He seemed surprised, almost breathless.

She grabbed his wrist and shoved the mistletoe into his open palm. "Hold this."

He held it up above his head in the sunlight to see what it was. "Sakura, what ismmpf! Mmmmf! Mmm. Mmm..."

And don't say you can't finish the story from there.


End file.
